Following their first set back as a team in China, the Haas F1 team will be hoping to return to points scoring ways at the upcoming 2016 Russian Grand Prix.
It was a tough weekend for Romain Grosjean in China, who after two fantastic rounds in Australia and Bahrain, found the VF-16 car almost un-driveable at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“It was a difficult weekend for us [ in China ] and certainly not the outcome we had wanted. It still feels like it was a negative weekend, but in the near future, I’m sure we’ll see positives from it because it’s in the tough situations you learn the most.
“China is one of those tracks where it’s completely front-limited. The front-left tire suffers the most from the circuit. Russia is a very different one. It’s going to be more in line with Bahrain, so that’s going to be great. I hope we get the car back to where we want it and the better the setup, the easier it is to manage your tires.”
Team-mate Esteban Gutierrez saw the chequered flag for the first time this season in Shanghai, after accidents and technical problems forced him to retire from the first two races. The Mexican is looking forward to another strong finish at the Sochi Autodrom.
“It was a very big relief to finally do a lot of consecutive laps. I was enjoying the car and the race so much that I could have continued for another 50 laps, probably.
“It was quite a tricky situation by not being able to practice on Friday and having the wet session on Saturday morning. Basically, we didn’t have many laps under our belts and it was quite a challenge to arrive into qualifying directly without any preparation, but still having to do proper laps. I think we managed it pretty well as a team.
“In China, the main limitation was the front axle, and the front left tire was very sensitive. Russia is totally the opposite. It’s actually the rear tires that are the limitation, and at the same time, it’s a very low degradation track. So, the focus will be totally different, and it will allow us to have a bit more flexibility on strategy.
“I think our car has been pretty reasonable in tire degradation, so we can look forward to a positive weekend in Russia.”
